Boxing’s P4P (pound-for-pound) rankings are mythical – and there is no greater debates than the ones about fights which can likely never happen.
We know that heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk will never fight Japanese ‘Monster’ Naoya Inoue, but we can argue all day and all night long about which man is the better pugilist. That is the beauty of P4P.
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We have had several changes to the highly-respected rankings from The Ring magazine in recent months, with Inoue, light-middleweight champion Terence Crawford and now Usyk holding the title of #1.
Usyk claimed his position at the top of the rankings with that epic split decision victory over Tyson Fury in their world heavyweight title unification showdown in Riyadh in May. He still holds the WBC, WBA, WBO, Ring and lineal titles – and is now preparing for a December 21 rematch vs ‘The Gypsy King’ – again in Saudi.
Inoue fight, start time and TV
Previous to that epic night in Saudi, Inoue and Crawford had both enjoyed spells at the top of the pile, and today (Tuesday September 3) Inoue gets another chance to impress the judges when he defends his super-bantamweight titles vs TJ Doheny in Tokyo.
The fight, at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, is scheduled to begin at around noon UK (0700 Eastern Time, 0400 PST) and fans in the UK can catch it for free in the UK if they have a Sky Sports subscription. Ring walks (Inoue’s are pretty spectacular) are expected 15 minutes before that at 1145 UK.
The fly in the ointment for ‘The Monster’ of course is that even if he wins (always), and even if he’s impressive (as usual), it may not be enough to get him back to the top of the rankings. Oddsmakers give Doheny ZERO chance of winning pretty much – he’s a 20/1 outsider with Inoue a prohibitive 1/66.
Whatever happens, it should be box office. Inoue (27-0) is a thing of terrifying beauty in the ring, and was brilliant again in his last outing – a beatdown of Luis Nery in May.
So, heading into that massive showdown in Japan, let’s look at the current rankings:
The Ring P4P rankings
The latest list on September 2, 2024 is as follows:
- 1. Oleksandr Usyk (22-0)
- 2. Naoya Inoue (27-0)
- 3. Terence Crawford (41-0)
- 4. Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2)
- 5. Jesse Rodriguez (20-0)
- 6. Artur Beterbiev (20-0)
- 7. Dmitry Bivol (23-0)
- 8. Gervonta Davis (30-0)
- 9. Junto Nakatani (28-0)
- 10. Devin Haney (31-0)
